PACE probe Philae yesterday began drilling into the surface of the comet it landed on as fears grew its battery was about to die.

Last night contact was lost with the spacecraft and it was unclear whether there would be enough power to deliver the results back to Earth.

Scientists launched the high risk operation despite concerns it could send the fridge-sized craft spinning off into space.

The European Space Agency said the drill, which is designed to bore out samples to a depth of 10 inches, was deployed to its maximum extent.

Urgent action was taken after the probe ended up landing on its side in the shadow of a cliff following a perilous landing.

he mechanism has worked, but unfortunately we have lost the link and we have no more data

ESA project manager Philippe Gaudon

It meant the sun’s rays have been unable to reach the spacecraft’s solar panels to charge up the batteries for as long as expected. Scientists were night also considering a last-ditch gamble to try to “hop” the lander to a sunnier spot which could give the mission more time.

Drilling is seen as a critical part of the mission with the probe able to analyse samples taken from the 2.5 mile rugged lump of ice and dust in the probe’s onboard laboratories.

said: “The mechanism has worked, but unfortunately we have lost the link and we have no more data.”

Lander mission chief Stephan Ulamec said it was not known if there would be enough battery power even to to restore the communications link. He said: “Maybe the battery will be empty before we get contact again.”

The probe made history on Wednesday by becoming the first man-made object to land on a comet as it hurtled through space at more than 40,000mph. It followed an epic journey through space aboard its mothership Rosetta which took 10 years to cover four billion miles.

But in a dramatic landing, two harpoons that were supposed to anchor Philae to the comet’s failed to deploy. The probe bounced more than half a mile into space, floating above the comet for nearly two hours. Eventually gravity drew it down and it bounced again before coming to rest close to the wall of a large crater more than half a mile from the original landing site.

Last night Dr Matt Taylor - the British scientist from the team that carried out a historic landing - made a tearful public apology for wearing an “offensive” shirt featuring scantily-clad women toting guns.

Complaints flooded in after the heavily-tattoed scientist was pictured wearing the colourful bowling outfit at mission control centre in Darmstadt, Germany.

Struggling to get the words out, MDr Taylor, 40, said: “The shirt I wore this week - I made a big mistake. I offended many people, and I’m very sorry about this.”